India’s electricity situation this summer is not good. Some regions are dealing with 16-hour power cuts, the Economic Times reports. Uttar Pradesh state ordered shops and malls to close at 7 p.m. before a backlash forced it to reverse course. A national shortage in coal production is forcing power plants to run below capacity or to shut down entirely just when the nation needs a boost in production.

It’s a strange time, perhaps, to interfere with how power plants do business by slapping a new tariff on imported equipment like turbines and boilers.

But that’s exactly what the government appears set to do.

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According to a report in the Mint newspaper, India’s leadership has decided in principle to put a 5% customs duty on power equipment, a move that targets Chinese products that play an increasingly vital role in India’s biggest power projects. The cabinet is expected to take up the matter, the newspaper said.

“An Indian power ministry spokesman said the issue is still under discussion. “Nothing has been finalized. It is still in process,” he said.

Indian power companies have grown increasingly dependent on imports from Chinese firms like Shanghai Electric Group Co., Dongfang Electric Corp. and Harbin Electric Co in recent years.

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